Semiconductor device structures for bipolar junction transistors and methods of fabricating such structures

ABSTRACT

Semiconductor device structures for use with bipolar junction transistors and methods of fabricating such semiconductor device structures. The semiconductor device structure includes a semiconductor body having a top surface and sidewalls extending from the top surface to an insulating layer, a first region including a first semiconductor material with a first conductivity type, and a second region including a second semiconductor material with a second conductivity type. The first and second regions each extend across the top surface and the sidewalls of the semiconductor body. The device structure further includes a junction defined between the first and second regions and extending across the top surface and the sidewalls of the semiconductor body.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of application Ser. No. 11/427,982,filed Jun. 30, 2006, which is hereby incorporated by reference herein inits entirety.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The invention relates generally to semiconductor device structures andfabrication methods and, in particular, to semiconductor devicestructures for use in constructing bipolar junction transistors andmethods of fabricating such semiconductor device structures.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Transistors are semiconductor devices in which the current flowingbetween two device regions is controlled or modulated by an appliedvoltage. Transistors may be categorized as either field effecttransistors (FET's) or bipolar junction transistors (BJT's). Bipolarjunction transistors are active semiconductor devices formed by a pairof P-N junctions, namely an emitter-base junction and a collector-basejunction. An NPN bipolar junction transistor has a thin region of P-typematerial constituting the base region between two regions of N-typematerial constituting the emitter and collector regions. A PNP bipolarjunction transistor has a thin region of N-type material constitutingthe base region between two regions of P-type material constituting theemitter and collector regions. The movement of electrical chargecarriers that produces electrical current flow between the collectorregion and the emitter region is controlled by a voltage applied acrossthe emitter-base junction.

Conventional bipolar junction transistors are fabricated with a verticalarrangement of the emitter, base, and collector regions in which theseregions have a stacked planar construction formed on a planar surface.As a result, conventional bipolar junction transistors have a relativelylarge footprint that consumes a significant surface area of the activedevice layer. The device footprint cannot be reduced because the area ofthe emitter-base junction cannot be easily scaled. Consequently, theemitter-base junction in planar device designs is limited by the planarsurface area.

What is needed, therefore, are semiconductor device structures forbipolar junction transistors and fabrication methods that overcome theseand other disadvantages of conventional semiconductor device structuresfor bipolar junction transistors and methods of manufacturing suchsemiconductor device structures.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is directed to semiconductor device structures andfabrication methods for bipolar junction transistors. The presentinvention overcomes the problems associated with conventional processesfor manufacturing bipolar junction transistors and improves circuitpacking density, circuit performance, and thermal dissipation. Thefabrication method of the present invention may be readily integratedwith complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) bulk,semiconductor-on-insulator (SOI), or fin-type field effect transistor(FinFET) technologies.

In accordance with an aspect of the present invention, a semiconductordevice structure comprises a semiconductor body having a top surface andsidewalls extending from the top surface toward an insulating layer. Thestructure further includes a first region including a firstsemiconductor material with a first conductivity type and a secondregion including a second semiconductor material with a secondconductivity type. The first and second regions are disposed on the topsurface and the sidewalls of the semiconductor body with an at leastpartially overlapping relationship to define a first junction extendingbetween the first and second regions adjacent toward the top surface andthe sidewalls of the semiconductor body. In certain specificembodiments, the first region may comprise an emitter region of abipolar junction transistor and the second region may comprise a baseregion of the bipolar junction transistor so that the junction is anemitter-base junction. In other specific embodiments, the first regionmay comprise a collector region of a bipolar junction transistor and thesecond region may comprise a base region of the bipolar junctiontransistor so that the junction is a collector-base junction.

In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, a method isprovided for fabricating a semiconductor device structure. The methodcomprises forming a semiconductor body having a top surface andsidewalls extending from the top surface toward the insulating layer,and forming a first region of a first semiconductor material with afirst conductivity type that is disposed on the top surface and thesidewalls of the semiconductor body. The method further comprisesforming a second region of a second semiconductor material with a secondconductivity type that is at least partially coextensive with the firstregion to define a first junction extending between the first and secondregions adjacent to the top surface and the sidewalls of thesemiconductor body.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute apart of this specification, illustrate embodiments of the invention and,together with a general description of the invention given above and thedetailed description of the embodiments given below, serve to explainthe principles of the invention.

FIGS. 1-14 are diagrammatic views of a portion of a substrate atsuccessive fabrication stages of a processing method in accordance withan embodiment of the present invention in which A represents across-sectional view and B is a corresponding cross-sectional view takengenerally along lines B-B in A.

FIG. 15 is an isometric view of the substrate portion of FIG. 14 aftercontacts are formed to the emitter, base, and collector regions.

FIG. 16A is a cross-sectional view taken generally along line 16A-16A inFIG. 15.

FIG. 16B is a cross-sectional view taken generally along line 16B-16B inFIG. 16A.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

With reference to FIGS. 1A and 1B, a bipolar junction transistor 72(FIGS. 13A, 13B) is fabricated using an SOI wafer 10 comprising a handlesubstrate 12, a buried insulating layer 14, and a semiconductor or SOIlayer 16 physically separated from the handle substrate 12 by theintervening buried insulating layer 14. The handle substrate 12 may besingle crystal or monocrystalline silicon, although the invention is notso limited. The SOI layer 16 is considerably thinner than the handlesubstrate 12 and may be advantageously composed of single crystal ormonocrystalline silicon. The buried insulating layer 14 electricallyisolates the SOI layer 16 from the handle substrate 12. The buriedinsulating layer 14 may consist of a buried silicon dioxide (BOX) layer.SOI wafer 10 may be fabricated by any suitable conventional technique,such as a wafer bonding technique or a separation by implantation ofoxygen (SIMOX) technique, familiar to a person having ordinary skill inthe art.

The semiconductor material of SOI layer 16 is patterned by aconventional lithography and subtractive etching process to define aplurality of semiconductor mesas or fin structures, of which finstructure 18 is visible in FIGS. 1A, 1B, that are mutually electricallyisolated from each other by regions of the buried insulating layer 14.The fin structure 18 represents a thin upright body of the semiconductormaterial originally constituting SOI layer 16 and, thus, has a “fin”type shape. The fin structure 18 has a top surface 20 and a plurality ofsidewalls, of which laterally opposite sidewalls 22, 24 are visible inFIG. 1A and laterally opposite sidewalls 23, 25 are visible in FIG. 1B.Each of the sidewalls 22, 23, 24, 25 extends from the top surface 20toward a top surface 27 of the buried insulating layer 14. The sidewalls22, 23, 24, 25 may be tapered or flared, as opposed to the verticalconstruction shown in FIGS. 1A, 1B. The height of each fin structure 18,which is measured as the perpendicular distance between the top surfaces20, 27, typically ranges from about 30 nm to about 300 nm; the width ofeach fin structure 18 typically ranges from about 10 nm to about 100 nm.Optionally and before the formation of fin structure 18, the SOI layer16 may be thickened by epitaxial growth of the constituent semiconductormaterial (e.g., silicon).

The fin structure 18 is uniformly doped by ion implantation with a doseof an appropriate impurity. A subsequent thermal anneal may be requiredto electrically activate and/or distribute the implanted impurity in thesemiconductor material of the fin structure 18. The impurity implantedto dope the semiconductor material of the fin structure 18 may have, forexample, an n-conductivity type (e.g., arsenic). Generally, theresultant dopant concentration in the fin structure 18 may range fromabout 1×10¹⁸ cm⁻³ to about 1×10²⁰ cm⁻³. Other alternative techniques,such as gas phase doping and solid source doping, may be employed todope the semiconductor material of the fin structure 18.

With reference to FIGS. 2A and 2B in which like reference numerals referto like features in FIGS. 1A and 1B and at a subsequent fabricationstage, a collector region 26 of the bipolar junction transistor 72(FIGS. 13A, 13B) is defined by forming a semiconductor layer on the finstructure 18. The semiconductor layer forming the collector region 26may be formed by an epitaxial process, such as chemical vapor deposition(CVD) using a silicon source gas (e.g., silane). The semiconductormaterial constituting the collector region 26 is in situ doped duringdeposition with a concentration of an impurity having the sameconductivity type as the fin structure 18 but doped to a lowerconcentration than the semiconductor material of the fin structure 18.The doping concentration in the constituent semiconductor material ofthe collector region 26 is selected to provide a desired collectorjunction doping profile according to design parameters for the bipolarjunction transistor 72 (FIGS. 13A, 13B). Generally, the dopantconcentration of the collector region 26 near the fin structure 18 mayrange from about 1×10¹⁸ cm⁻³ to about 1×10²⁰ cm⁻³ to ensure relativelylow series resistance with the fin structure 18 and the dopantconcentration of the collector region 26 near the base region 34 (FIGS.5A, 5B) may range from about 1×10¹⁷ cm⁻³ to about 1×10¹⁸ cm⁻³ to providea low-leakage collector-base junction 36 (FIGS. 5A, 5B).

The collector region 26 comprises a top segment 90 and sidewall segments92, 94 that are joined by the top segment 90 to define a continuousstructure. The top segment 90 of the collector region 26 is coextensive(i.e., shares a border) with the top surface 20 of fin structure 18 andthe sidewall segments 92, 94 are respectively coextensive with thesidewalls 23, 25 of fin structure 18. The sidewall segments 92, 94extend from the top segment 90 along the sidewalls 23, 25 toward the topsurface 27 of the buried insulating layer 14. The collector region 26also includes segments that extend from the top segment 90 along thesidewalls 22, 24 toward the top surface 27 of the buried insulatinglayer 14.

With reference to FIGS. 3A and 3B in which like reference numerals referto like features in FIGS. 2A and 2B and at a subsequent fabricationstage, a thin layer 28 of a dielectric is formed on the collector region26 to cap the constituent semiconductor material. The dielectric layer28 may comprise, for example, oxide grown on the semiconductor materialconstituting the collector region 26 using a conventional wet or drythermal oxidation process. The dielectric layer 28 covers the topsegment 90 and sidewall segments 92, 94 of the collector region 26,which is disposed between the fin structure 18 and the dielectric layer28.

The dielectric layer 28 is patterned by a conventional lithography andsubtractive etching process. The lithography process applies aradiation-sensitive resist 30 on dielectric layer 28, exposes the resist30 to a pattern of radiation (e.g., light, x-rays, or an electron beam),and develops the latent transferred pattern in the exposed resist 30 todefine a representative opening 29 that extends across the top surface20 and along the sidewalls 23, 25 of fin structure 18. Thus, the opening29 extends across the top segment 90 and along the sidewall segments 92,94 of the collector region 26.

With reference to FIGS. 4A and 4B in which like reference numerals referto like features in FIGS. 3A and 3B and at a subsequent fabricationstage, the subtractive etching process, which may be an anisotropic dryetch process like reactive ion etching (RIE) or plasma etching,transfers the pattern in the resist 30 to the dielectric layer 28. Thesubtractive etching process defines a base opening 32 to the collectorregion 26 by partially removing unmasked areas of dielectric layer 28registered with the opening 29 in the patterned resist 30, which servesas an etch mask. The subtractive etching process, which relies on anetchant chemistry that removes the constituent material of thedielectric layer 28 selective to the semiconductor material constitutingcollector region 26, stops on the constituent semiconductor material ofcollector region 26. The dielectric layer 28 includes peripheral regionsthat overlap with the buried insulating layer 14 peripherally of the finstructure 18.

Base opening 32 extends across the top surface 20 and along thesidewalls 23, 25 of the fin structure 18. Thus, the base opening 32extends across the top segment 90 and along the sidewall segments 92, 94of the collector region 26. The top segment 90 and sidewall segments 92,94 of the collector region 26 are exposed through the base opening 32and are free of coverage by the dielectric layer 28, which has edgesthat peripherally bound the base opening 32.

With reference to FIGS. 5A and 5B in which like reference numerals referto like features in FIGS. 4A and 4B and at a subsequent fabricationstage, the patterned resist 30 (FIGS. 4A, 4B) is removed using aconventional solvent stripping process or by ashing. A base region 34 ofthe bipolar junction transistor 72 (FIGS. 13A, 13B) is then formed by aselective epitaxial growth process with in situ impurity doping thatfills the base opening 32 with an impurity-doped semiconductor material,such as silicon or a silicon-containing semiconductor material.Specifically, the semiconductor material forming the base region 34 isdoped with an impurity having an opposite conductivity type to collectorregion 26. For example, the dopant concentration of the base region 34may be graded from about 1×10¹⁷ cm⁻³ near the collector region 26 toabout 5×10¹⁸ cm⁻³ near the emitter region 58 (FIGS. 11A,B). Acollector-base junction 36 is defined across the interface or boundaryshared by the coextensive portions of the collector region 26 and baseregion 34. The impurity implanted to dope the semiconductor material ofthe base region 34 may have, for example, a p-conductivity type (e.g.,boron).

The semiconductor material forming the base region 34 is doped with animpurity having an opposite conductivity type to collector region 26.The semiconductor material of the collector region 26 may becharacterized by an n-type conductivity that exhibits a higherconcentration of electrons than holes so that electrons are majoritycarriers and dominate the electrical conductivity of the material. Thesemiconductor material of the base region 34 may be characterized by ap-type conductivity that exhibits a higher concentration of holes thanelectrons so that holes are majority carriers and dominate theelectrical conductivity of the material. Alternatively, the conductivitytypes may be reversed.

In one embodiment, the silicon-containing semiconductor materialconstituting the base region 34 may be an impurity dopedsilicon-germanium alloy (Si_(x)Ge_(1-x)) in which the silicon atomicconcentration ranges from about 65% to about 90% and the germaniumatomic concentration ranges from about 10% to about 35%. TheSi_(x)Ge_(1-x) may be deposited using any conventional epitaxial growthmethod capable of growing a SiGe alloy with in situ doping that issubstantially free from defects, i.e., misfit and threadingdislocations. An illustrative example of such an epitaxial growthprocess capable of growing substantially defect free films is alow-pressure chemical vapor deposition (LPCVD) process using silane(SiH₄) and germane (GeH₄) as reactant gasses and conducted at arelatively low process temperature.

Base region 34 is physically separated from the fin structure 18 by thecollector region 26. Base region 34 has a top segment 96 that iscoextensive with the top segment 90 of collector region 26 and sidewallsegments 98, 100 that are respectively coextensive with the sidewallsegments 92, 94 of collector region 26. The sidewall segments 98, 100are joined by the top segment 96. The base region 34 extends across thetop surface 20 and along the sidewalls 23, 25 of the fin structure 18.Thus, the base region 34 contacts the top segment 90 and sidewallsegments 92, 94 of the collector region 26. The collector-base junction36 is defined across the coextensive, contacting surface areas of thedoped semiconductor material of the collector region 26 having oneconductivity type and the doped semiconductor material of the baseregion 34 having the opposite conductivity type. The collector and baseregions 36, 34 at least partially overlap to define the collector-basejunction 36.

The periphery of the base region 34, which is designated by the lateralextent of the base opening 32 and the process forming the base region34, is selected such that a contact pad 75 of the collector region 26extends laterally of the periphery of the base region 34. The contactpad 75 is not overlapped by the base region 34 and, thus, does notparticipate in forming the collector-base junction 36. The contact pad75 is employed to electrically contact the collector region 26, asdescribed below.

With reference to FIGS. 6A and 6B in which like reference numerals referto like features in FIGS. 5A and 5B and at a subsequent fabricationstage, a layer 38 of a dielectric is conformally deposited across thefin structure 18. The dielectric in layer 38 may be silicon nitride(Si₃N₄) formed by a thermal CVD process like low pressure chemical vapordeposition (LPCVD) or by a plasma-assisted CVD process. The dielectriclayer 38 extends across the top surface 20 and along the sidewalls 22,23, 24, 25 of the fin structure 18.

With reference to FIGS. 7A and 7B in which like reference numerals referto like features in FIGS. 6A and 6B and at a subsequent fabricationstage, the dielectric layer 38 is patterned by a conventionallithography and subtractive etching process. The lithography processapplies a radiation-sensitive resist 40 on dielectric layer 38, exposesthe resist 40 to a pattern of radiation, and develops the latenttransferred pattern in the exposed resist 40 to define an opening 42.The opening 42 extends across the top surface 20 and along the sidewalls23, 25 of the fin structure 18.

With reference to FIGS. 8A and 8B in which like reference numerals referto like features in FIGS. 7A and 7B and at a subsequent fabricationstage, an emitter area 44 is defined across the top segment 96 andsidewall segments 98, 100 of the base region 34 by transferring thepattern in the resist 40 (FIGS. 7A, 7B) to the dielectric layer 38 usingan anisotropic dry etch process like RIE or plasma etching. The dryetching process defines the emitter area 44 by removing an unmaskedportion of dielectric layer 38 registered with the opening 42 inpatterned resist 30, which operates as an etch mask. The dry etchingprocess, which has an etchant chemistry that removes the constituentmaterial of the dielectric layer 38 selective to the semiconductormaterial of the base region 34, stops on the constituent semiconductormaterial of base region 34. The top segment 96 and sidewall segments 98,100 of base region 34 are exposed across the emitter area 44. The resist40 (FIGS. 7A, 7B) is subsequently removed using a conventional solventstripping process or by ashing.

With reference to FIGS. 9A and 9B in which like reference numerals referto like features in FIGS. 8A and 8B and at a subsequent fabricationstage, a layer 46 of a semiconductor material is formed on top surface20 and sidewalls 22, 23, 24, 25 of the fin structure 18. Thesemiconductor layer 46 may be composed of polycrystalline silicon (i.e.,polysilicon) deposited by a CVD process. Semiconductor layer 46 is dopedduring deposition with a concentration of an impurity having the sameconductivity type as the semiconductor material of collector region 26but the opposite conductivity type in comparison with the semiconductormaterial of base region 34. The semiconductor layer 46 is coextensivewith the base region 34 across the emitter area 44, which is boundedperipherally by the encircling edges of the dielectric layer 38. Aprotective cap layer 50, which may comprise a layer of oxide depositedby a CVD process, is formed on the semiconductor layer 46.

With reference to FIGS. 10A and 10B in which like reference numeralsrefer to like features in FIGS. 9A and 9B and at a subsequentfabrication stage, the semiconductor layer 46 and cap layer 50 arepatterned by a conventional lithography and subtractive etching process.The lithography process applies a radiation-sensitive resist 52 on caplayer 50, exposes the resist 52 to a pattern of radiation, and developsthe latent transferred pattern in the exposed resist 52 to define aresidual strip or island of resist 52 covering a portion of thesemiconductor layer 46 and cap layer 50. The residual island of resist52 extends across the top surface 20 and along the sidewalls 23, 25 ofthe fin structure 18.

With reference to FIGS. 11A and 11B in which like reference numeralsrefer to like features in FIGS. 10A and 10B and at a subsequentfabrication stage, the subtractive etching process removes portions ofthe semiconductor layer 46 and cap layer 50 not masked by the residualisland of resist 52. The portion of the semiconductor layer 46 maskedduring the subtractive etching process comprises an emitter region 58 ofthe bipolar junction transistor 72 (FIGS. 13A, 13B). The subtractiveetching process includes one or more anisotropic dry etch processes,like RIE or plasma etching, that patterns the cap layer 50 using theresist 52 as an etch mask and then patterns the semiconductor layer 46using the patterned cap layer 50 and resist 52 as an etch mask. Thesubtractive etching process, which may be conducted in a single etchingstep or multiple steps, stops on the dielectric layer 38. After theemitter region 58 is defined, the resist 52 (FIGS. 10A, 10B) is removedusing solvent stripping or ashing.

The emitter region 58, which has a top segment 102 and sidewall segments104, 106 joined by the top segment 102, is physically separated from thecollector region 26 by the base region 34. The top segment 102 iscoextensive with the top segment 96 of base region 34 and the sidewallsegments 104, 106 are respectively coextensive with the sidewallsegments 98, 100 of base region 34. The top segment 102 and sidewallsegments 104, 106 of emitter region 58 extend adjacent to the topsurface 20 and the sidewalls 23, 25 of the fin structure 18. Thus, theemitter region 58 extends across the top segment 96 and along thesidewall segments 98, 100 of the base region 34. The lateral extent ofthe emitter region 58, which is designated by the lateral extent of theresist 52, is selected such that the contact pad 68 of the base region34 is outside of the perimeter or periphery of the emitter region 58.

With reference to FIGS. 12A and 12B in which like reference numeralsrefer to like features in FIGS. 11A and 11B and at a subsequentfabrication stage, the SOI wafer 10 is annealed at a temperature and fora time that promotes impurity diffusion from the doped semiconductormaterial of the emitter region 58 into the base region 34 across theemitter region 58. The anneal may be performed in either a vacuum orinert environment, where an inert environment may comprise, for example,a non-reactive atmosphere of helium (He), argon (Ar), or nitrogen (N₂),and at a substrate temperature in the range of 950CE to 1100EC. Thevolume of semiconductor material of the base region 34 receiving thediffused impurity is doped with a net impurity concentration that isgraded across a zone 53 from one conductivity type (i.e., n-type) nearthe emitter region 58 to the opposite conductivity type (i.e., p-type)of the base region 34. An emitter-base junction 54 is defined by thelocus of points or transition between conductivity types in the gradedzone 53 for which the net doping concentration is null or zero. The bulkof the emitter region 58 may have a dopant concentration of about 5×10¹⁹cm⁻³ to about 5×10²⁰ cm⁻³. The emitter-base junction 43 is generallydefined by the at least partial overlap between coextensive portions ofthe emitter region 78 and the base region 48.

The emitter-base junction 54, which is defined at the location ofcoextensive portions of the base region 34 and emitter region 58 forwhich the net doping concentration is null or zero, is collectivelydefined by a top segment 108 and sidewall segments 110, 112 joined bythe top segment 108. Hence, the emitter-base junction 54 comprises athree-dimensional, non-planar feature of the bipolar junction transistor72. The emitter-base junction 54 (as well as the collector, base, andemitter regions 26, 34, 58 and collector-base junction 36) has a lengthslightly greater than the height of fin structure 18 at sidewall 23,plus the width of fin structure 18 across the top surface 20, plus theheight of fin structure 18 at sidewall 25. The base region 34, emitterregion 58, and emitter-base junction 54 are a continuous region ofsemiconductor material. The top segment 108 and sidewall segments 110,112 of the emitter-base junction 54 extend adjacent to the top surface20 and the sidewalls 23, 25 of the fin structure 18.

With reference to FIGS. 13A and 13B in which like reference numeralsrefer to like features in FIGS. 12A and 12B and at a subsequentfabrication stage, insulating spacers 60 are formed on the peripheraledges of the emitter region 58 and insulating spacers 62 are formed onthe peripheral edges of the base region 34 by a conventional filmdeposition and anisotropic etching process. Dielectric layer 38, whichmay be composed of the same material as the film (e.g., nitride)deposited to form the spacers, is also anisotropically etched duringspacer formation. Insulating spacers 64 are also formed on the verticalsurfaces flanking the fin structure 18 as an artifact of the processforming spacers 60, 62. Forming the spacers 60, 62, 64 concludes thefabrication of the bipolar junction transistor 72.

The anisotropic etching process removes portions of the dielectric layer38 to expose the peripheral contact pad 68 of the base region 34. Thecontact pad 68 is not overlapped by the emitter region 58 and, thus,does not participate in forming the emitter-base junction 54. Thecontact pad 68 is used to electrically contact the base region 34, asdescribed below.

Although illustrated as having an NPN doping configuration for thecollector region 26, base region 34, and emitter region 58, thefabrication of the bipolar junction transistor 72 may be modified toprovide a PNP doping configuration for the collector region 26, baseregion 34, and emitter region 58 as understood by a person havingordinary skill in the art.

With reference to FIGS. 14A and 14B in which like reference numeralsrefer to like features in FIGS. 13A and 13B and at a subsequentfabrication stage, a contact region 70 is formed on a top surface of thecontact pad 68 of the base region 34. The contact region 70 may be, forexample, self-aligned silicide or salicide contacts formed using aconventional silicidation or salicidation process well known to a personhaving ordinary skill in the art, which includes forming a layer ofrefractory metal, such as titanium (Ti), cobalt (Co), tungsten (W), ornickel (Ni), on the silicon-containing semiconductor material comprisingthe base region 34 and heating the metal/silicon-containing materialstack by, for example, a rapid thermal annealing process to transformthe stack to form a silicide. Thereafter, any non-reacted refractorymetal is removed utilizing a conventional wet chemical etchant. Thesilicidation may be conducted in an inert gas atmosphere or in anitrogen-rich gas atmosphere. Contact region 70 provides a lowresistance contact to the semiconductor material constituting the baseregion 34. Cap layer 50 protects emitter region 58 during formation ofthe contact region 70.

With reference to FIGS. 15, 16A, and 16B in which like referencenumerals refer to like features in FIGS. 14A and 14B and at a subsequentfabrication stage, a blanket layer 74 of an insulating material isapplied across the bipolar junction transistor 72 and planarized by aconventional planarization process like chemical mechanicalplanarization (CMP). The insulating material of the blanket layer 74,which provides an interlayer dielectric for contact formation, may becomposed of a spin-on glass (SOG) material applied by coating the SOIwafer 10 with the SOG material in liquid form, spinning the SOI wafer 10at high speeds to uniformly distribute the liquid on the surface bycentrifugal forces, and baking at a low temperature to solidify the SOGmaterial. Alternatively, the insulating material of the blanket layer 74may include multiple coatings of different dielectric materials asunderstood by a person having ordinary skill in the art.

Another particularly advantageous dielectric material that may beemployed to form the insulating material of the blanket layer 74 isdiamond-like carbon or diamond deposited by a thermal or plasma CVDprocess, which may improve heat dissipation because of diamond'srelatively high thermal conductivity. This ability to dissipate heat maybe important for effectively cooling the bipolar junction transistor 72when the integrated circuit is powered and operating. Other dielectricmaterials having a high thermal conductivity and a low electricalconductivity may be employed to form the insulating material of theblanket layer 74 as understood by a person having ordinary skill in theart.

The blanket layer 74 of insulating material is then lithographicallypatterned in a conventional manner to form via holes to the collectorregion 26, base region 34, and emitter region 58. A conductive materialis deposited into the via holes using conventional processing, such asCVD or plating to form electrical contacts 76, 78, 80 that extend to thecollector region 26, base region 34, and emitter region 58,respectively. Conductive materials suitable for the contacts 76, 78, 80may include, but are not limited to, metals such as tungsten, copper,aluminum, silver, gold, and alloys thereof.

Electrical contact 76 extends through the blanket insulating layer 74and the dielectric layer 28 to the depth of the collector region 26 andis electrically coupled with the peripheral contact pad 75 of thecollector region 26. The contact pad 75 of collector region 26 is notoverlapped by the base region 34 and, thus, does not participate informing the emitter-base junction 54. Contact pad 75 of collector region26 also extends laterally of the emitter region 58 so that the emitterregion 58 does not occlude the path for establishing the contact 76.Electrical contact 78 extends through the blanket insulating layer 74 tothe depth of the peripheral contact pad 68 of the base region 34 and iselectrically coupled with the contact region 70 of, for example,salicide. Electrical contact 80 extends through the blanket insulatinglayer 74 and the cap layer 50 to the depth of the emitter region 58 andis electrically coupled with the emitter region 58.

As best shown in FIG. 16B, the collector region 26, base region 34, andemitter region 58, as well as junctions 36, 54, of the bipolar junctiontransistor 72 each wrap about the top surface 20 and sidewalls 23, 25 ofthe fin structure 18 so that each extends about three sides of the finstructure 18 in a non-planar construction. The emitter-base junction 54also wraps about the top surface 20 and sidewalls 23, 25 of the finstructure 18, which significantly increases the bipolar junction areaand current per unit area of silicon real estate on the SOI wafer 10.Instead of forming the collector region 26, base region 34, emitterregion 58 and emitter-base junction 54 on planar surfaces, as doneduring the fabrication of conventional bipolar junction transistors,bipolar junction transistor 72 utilizes the relatively large surfacearea on fin structure 18 of semiconductor material to provide athree-dimensional, non-planar device structure. As a result, theemitter-base junction 54 is not limited by the planar surface area of aconventional handle substrate. The collector region 26, base region 34,and emitter region 58 of the bipolar junction transistor 72 have atiered configuration for the respective structural peripheral edges thatfacilitates forming contacts 76, 78, 80 by exposing contact pad 68 ofthe base region 34 peripherally of the emitter region 58 and by exposingcontact pad 75 of the collector region 26 peripherally of the baseregion 34.

References herein to terms such as “vertical”, “horizontal”, etc. aremade by way of example, and not by way of limitation, to establish aframe of reference. The term “horizontal” as used herein is defined as aplane parallel to the top surface 20 of fin structure 18, regardless ofits actual three-dimensional spatial orientation. The term “vertical”refers to a direction perpendicular to the horizontal, as just defined.Terms, such as “on”, “above”, “below”, “side” (as in “sidewall”),“higher”, “lower”, “over”, “beneath” and “under”, are defined withrespect to the horizontal plane. It is understood that various otherframes of reference may be employed for describing the present inventionwithout departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention.

The fabrication of the semiconductor structure herein has been describedby a specific order of fabrication stages and steps. However, it isunderstood that the order may differ from that described. For example,the order of two or more fabrication steps may be switched relative tothe order shown. Moreover, two or more fabrication steps may beconducted either concurrently or with partial concurrence. In addition,various fabrication steps may be omitted and other fabrication steps maybe added. It is understood that all such variations are within the scopeof the present invention. It is also understood that features of thepresent invention are not necessarily shown to scale in the drawings.

While the present invention has been illustrated by a description ofvarious embodiments and while these embodiments have been described inconsiderable detail, it is not the intention of the applicants torestrict or in any way limit the scope of the appended claims to suchdetail. Additional advantages and modifications will readily appear tothose skilled in the art. Thus, the invention in its broader aspects istherefore not limited to the specific details, representative apparatusand method, and illustrative example shown and described. Accordingly,departures may be made from such details without departing from thespirit or scope of applicants' general inventive concept.

1. A semiconductor device structure on an insulating layer, thesemiconductor device structure comprising: a semiconductor body having atop surface and a plurality of sidewalls extending from said top surfacetoward the insulating layer; and a first region composed of a firstsemiconductor material with a first conductivity type and a secondregion composed of a second semiconductor material with a secondconductivity type, said first and second regions disposed on said topsurface and said sidewalls of said semiconductor body with one of thefirst and second regions positioned between the semiconductor body andthe other of the first and second regions, and said first and secondregions including an interface defining a first junction that extendsacross said top surface and along said sidewalls of said semiconductorbody.
 2. The semiconductor device structure of claim 1 wherein saidfirst region comprises an emitter region of a bipolar junctiontransistor and said second region comprises a base region of the bipolarjunction transistor.
 3. The semiconductor device structure of claim 1wherein said first region comprises a collector region of a bipolarjunction transistor and said second region comprises a base region ofthe bipolar junction transistor.
 4. The semiconductor device structureof claim 1 wherein said first semiconductor material contains an n-typedopant effective to provide said first conductivity type and said secondsemiconductor material contains a p-type dopant effective to providesaid second conductivity type.
 5. The semiconductor device structure ofclaim 1 wherein said first semiconductor material contains a p-typedopant effective to provide said first conductivity type and said secondsemiconductor material contains an n-type dopant effective to providesaid second conductivity type.
 6. The semiconductor device structure ofclaim 1 further comprising: a third region composed of a thirdsemiconductor material doped to have said first conductivity type, saidthird region disposed on said top surface and said sidewalls of saidsemiconductor body, and said third region and said second regionincluding a second interface defining a second junction that extendsacross said top surface and along said sidewalls of said semiconductorbody.
 7. The semiconductor device structure of claim 6 wherein saidthird region is positioned between said second region and saidsemiconductor body, and said second and third regions are positionedbetween said first region and said semiconductor body.
 8. Thesemiconductor device structure of claim 6 wherein said first region ispositioned between said second region and said semiconductor body, andsaid first and second regions are positioned between said third regionand said semiconductor body.
 9. The semiconductor device structure ofclaim 1 wherein said second semiconductor material of said second regionincludes an alloy containing silicon and germanium.
 10. Thesemiconductor device structure of claim 1 wherein said first junctioncomprises a graded region including said first conductivity type nearsaid first region and said second conductivity type near said secondregion.
 11. The semiconductor device structure of claim 1 furthercomprising: a blanket layer composed of diamond that covers saidsemiconductor body, said first region, and said second region.
 12. Thesemiconductor device structure of claim 11 further comprising: a firstvia hole extending through said blanket layer to said first region; afirst conductive contact disposed in the first via hole and electricallycoupled with said first region; a second via hole extending through saidblanket layer to said second region; and a second conductive contactdisposed in the second via hole and electrically coupled with saidsecond region.
 13. The semiconductor device structure of claim 12further comprising: a third region composed of a third semiconductormaterial doped to have said first conductivity type, said third regiondisposed on said top surface and said sidewalls of said semiconductorbody, and said third region and said second region including a secondinterface defining a second junction that extends across said topsurface and along said sidewalls of said semiconductor body.
 14. Thesemiconductor device structure of claim 13 wherein said third region iscovered by said blanket layer, and further comprising: a third via holeextending through said blanket layer to said third region; and a thirdconductive contact disposed in the third via hole and electricallycoupled with said third region.
 15. The semiconductor device structureof claim 1 wherein said second region is disposed between said firstregion and said semiconductor body.
 16. The semiconductor devicestructure of claim 1 wherein said first region is disposed between saidsecond region and said semiconductor body.